A French Garden

I love our little city apartment but I do daydream about the possibilities of one day having extensive, sprawling gardens. Only the hardiest plants survive the drying conditions of being up high so pretty, delicate flowering things are basically a no-go.  We stayed at a hotel called Le Pigonnet during our visit to Aix en Provence and when we weren't out and about, being able to wander through or sit and read in their beautifully kept gardens was one of the loveliest things about the hotel. It made me want a large, leafy garden even more.  It was winter and nothing was in flower, many of the vines were bare but there was a wonderful tranquility and stillness to the garden... especially in the wintery late afternoon sun.

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A Beach Cottage

Christmas Inspiration

I am loving yellow at the moment.  Perhaps it's all this dreary rainy weather we've had over the past several weeks.  I can't remember when I last saw the sun! The colour in the images is so uplifting.  I would love to have a garden where all sorts of viney things grew to be able to grab a few cuttings and turn into a Christmas garland.  This rooftop garden in the middle of the city looks so surreal with its lushness against the urban backdrop.

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Pillar Valley

While seeing if there was the faint chance of any remaining holiday accommodation in the sleepy beachside town of Wooli, I stumbled across a real estate site which listed a property for sale in nearby Pillar Valley.  This was one of the photos on the listing and I just love it!  That shade of grey on those classic Adirondack chairs are perfect. The soft, velvety grass, the enormous shady tree with the rope swing and the timber ladder... so beautiful.  Nevermind the house though, it does not match up with it's lovely grounds I'm afraid.

Sunday in the Gardens

While in Toowoomba a couple weeks ago we had enjoyed a continental breakfast on the verandah where we stayed followed by a morning stroll through the Toowoomba Japanese Garden.  I enjoyed watching the families of ducks, Helen especially liked the little ducklings.  A lone white duck put on a bit of a display washing itself while the turtles seemed to be rather interested in watching us.  It was a rejuvenating Sunday morning.

Happy Birthday Jack!

Today we attended Jack's first birthday party.  Here is our present to little Jack all wrapped up and ready to go.  The owls and toadstools are so cute!

At Geneve and Joe's where the tables were laden with so much food, all homemade by Geneve.  These cupcakes were gorgeous in their stand.  We were given mini versions to take home with us. You can see the homemade dim sum in the background.

More food outside awaiting many hungry guests.  I loved the boldly patterned table cloth.

Geneve made this amazing giraffe birthday cake.  It is from a vintage Women's Weekly children's birthday cake cookbook which is apparently highly sought after these days.  The cake was a vanilla butter cake and tasted fantastic!  Jack tasted his first bite of cake today.

The present we picked out was a hit with the little people.  It was mildly educational with lots of letters and numbers that spun around.  Here they are testing out its fun factor!

I spent some time gawking at the garden.  Here is a Yesterday Today Tomorrow in full bloom.  It looks like Spring and lent the back garden such a cosy feeling, especially with the softly falling rain. 

More garden gawking.  James was particularly taken with this spot and the sound of the rain falling onto the pebble garden.  I am all for variegated foliage.

And lastly, I am in envy of all the wonderful aromatics flourishing in big pots.  I shall have to give a herb garden a bit of a go.

We played a round of mahjong or two to cap off a very enjoyable day.  Enough said Jack was happy to have his bath and go for a snooze after all the excitement of the afternoon.  We're looking forwards to catching up again with him soon.

West End Community Gardens

I finally managed to buy a Bokashi starter kit this weekend.  It allows for the breakdown of organic kitchen scraps through an anaerobic fermentation process within an airtight odourless bin. It allows the highly nutritious moisture to be drained out for fertilising plants and the solid material to be added to soil for rapid decomposition and soil conditioning. I am probably going to give away the end mixture to a community garden as I suspect we just don't have enough capacity on our balcony to absorb all the material.  It at least allows for us as city apartment dwellers to make use of the organic material that would otherwise go into landfill not having the opportunity to have a garden with composting capacity.

I came across this community garden in West End last Sunday brimming with fresh produce and open to the public for anyone to wander through.  I love community gardens and find them very inspiring and motivating not least for the surprise of finding them always nestled in between under-utilised spaces within our urban landscape.  There is always a palpable sense of community spirit and endeavour.  I am hoping to eventually join one closer to the CBD and am on the hunt.  However, I must admit I am a bit apprehensive of discovering I may have a brown thumb after all!

West End Courtyard

A courtyard garden in Brisbane's West End, also seen last weekend.  While I am not so keen on the architecture the courtyard garden is fantastic!  I'm sure these apartments would be great in Japan but for our hot humid summer I can't imagine they will get much breeze through those tiny windows...

Tropical Courtyard

While out and about last weekend we stopped in at Bowen Hills to look at the site for one of Helen's design projects.  We also took at peek at the courtyard garden of this architectural practice nearby.  The tropical garden makes the space, cushioning the occupants from a bitumen wasteland that surrounds the building.  I'm loving courtyard gardens at the moment and especially ones with plenty of bamboo.

Orchid in Bloom

Spring is well and truly here and I have been so excited by the prospect of our orchid coming into bloom.  It would seem that even on a small city balcony anything is possible... well, at least I can say I don't totally have a brown thumb!  This plant was given to us by Geneve and Joe last year and has flourished to my surprise given the often times harsh conditions up on our floor.  These are the first lot of flowers we've had and it looks like there will be another six blooms counting the remaining buds that are yet to open.  They are so very lovely! 

Bawa Landscapes and Courtyards

Ever since discovering Geoffrey Bawa's work I have found his architecture, interiors and landscapes continually fascinating.  Bawa was not only an architect of enormous talent and insight working in the tropical Asian context, but also meticulously designed the extensive landscapes and gardens surrounding his buildings down to the placement of every exact type of plant. The courtyard houses Bawa is most well known for continue to be relevant in the contemporary context of our desire to merge the line between the internal and external.  Bawa's interiors were no less meticulous with every item envisaged down to the last detail.  His drawings are artworks in themselves and a testament to his attention to detail as well as his grand vision and love for the Ceylonese landscape.


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www.geoffreybawa.com

Water Lily

Last month I posted about displaying plants in urns. This beautiful photo was sent to me from Oi Lai of her parents garden in Malaysia. I love the water lily in this photo and the lushness of the garden behind. So green and tropical! If only we could replicate it on our balcony.

Water Garden

I love the display of bright flowers in beautiful urns of water. The lotus blossoms at Thompson House in Thailand contrast so well with the turquoise amidst all the lush tropical greenery. The display of roses in the Hunter Valley Indian Mosaic Tea Garden are also lovely and welcoming at the entrance. I have been on the lookout for an urn of a similar style but have yet to find the perfect one.

Powlett Street

Helen and I stayed in East Melbourne this weekend while visiting friends.  Only a short walk from the CBD with plenty of stunning turn-of-the-century terrace houses and equally well kept gardens.  We love the quiet elegance of the area as well as its leafiness.

Spaces Between Spaces

Two little passageways between buildings of which we adore.  The first photo is the entrance of a little tea house which we came across while visiting Malacca, Malaysia.  The second appeared to lead to the entrance of a house in Kyoto, Japan.